JPH08233845A - Sheet-shaped flow-rate/temperature meter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a sheet-shaped flow-rate/temp. meter capable of easily measuring the temp. distribution of a flat surface part and/or a curved surface part or the flow velocity (flow rate) distribution and/or temp. distribution of the fluid in the vicinity of these surface parts. CONSTITUTION: A sheet-shaped flow rate/temp. meter 10 is constituted by arranging a large number of the flow rate sensors and temp. sensors formed on a silicon substrate by semiconductor fine processing technique on a flexible sheet 11 provided with printed wirings 13. The respective flow rate/temp. sensor chips 12 are connected to a power supply connection part 14 and a signal take- out part 15 through the printed wirings 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flow rate / thermometer, and is particularly suitable for measuring a temperature distribution on a flat surface or a curved surface, or a flow velocity (flow rate) distribution and / or a temperature distribution of a fluid near the surface. Sheet flow rate and thermometer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The flow velocity distribution and / or temperature distribution in a liquid surface or a defined region in the liquid / air, the temperature distribution in a flat or curved surface of a solid, and the flow velocity of a fluid in the vicinity of those surfaces are measured. Measurement of distribution and / or temperature distribution is required in various fields.

In terms of medicine and ergonomics, not only the surface temperature of a part of the human body can be measured, but also the temperature of all surfaces can be measured at one time, and if it can be known, it will be very useful in medical and environmental aspects. It should be.

Further, in the field of mechanical engineering, when designing the body of an automobile or the body of an airplane, it is necessary to know the flow velocity distribution of air on the surface of the body or the surface of the body during traveling or flight.

Further, in the field of chemistry, it would be desirable to be able to grasp the temperature distribution in a liquid stored in a processing tank or the like by a simple means.

Taking the case of measuring the flow velocity distribution as an example, mixing smoke or dust in the fluid,
Conventionally, a method of visualizing a flow has been considered. According to this method, the appearance of streamlines and vortices is captured by a video camera or the like, and the results are input to a computer for image analysis. In addition, when measuring the flow velocity distribution on a complex surface such as a car body that is a combination of a flat surface and various curved surfaces, in addition to the tedious work of mounting a large number of current meters in appropriate places on the surface, The output from the sensor is separately input to the computer and data processing is performed.

[0007]

In order to visualize the flow and measure and analyze the flow velocity distribution, equipment such as a video camera and an image analysis device is prepared, and the output signals from each equipment are computerized. It has to be processed, which is expensive and labor intensive. Further, when a large number of measuring instruments (sensors) are installed, it is necessary to select an installation place from the viewpoint of measurement effect, but due to the limitation of signal wiring, effective installation cannot always be achieved. In particular, it is difficult to arrange many sensors closely. Further, it is difficult to install and attach a large number of sensors individually, and there is a possibility that the signal line or the like disturbs the flow to be measured. Moreover, the conventional measuring means cannot measure the flow rate and / or the temperature distribution in a limited narrow place.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and its purpose is to provide a temperature distribution in a flat surface and / or a curved surface, or a fluid in the vicinity of the surface. Flow velocity (flow rate) distribution and /
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sheet-like flow rate / thermometer capable of easily measuring the temperature distribution through a simple and inexpensive means.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to a basic aspect of the present invention, wiring is embedded in a flow sensor and a temperature sensor formed on a silicon substrate by using a semiconductor fine processing technique. A sheet-like flow rate / thermometer is provided which is arranged on a flexible sheet.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet-like flow rate / thermometer characterized in that the flexible sheet in the above-mentioned basic aspect is made of polyimide.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the flow rate sensor in the above-mentioned basic aspect has a detecting portion including a heating wire made of a semiconductor, particularly polysilicon.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, each of the flow rate sensor and the temperature sensor in the above-mentioned basic aspect is a flow rate in which a pair of semiconductor flow rate sensors and semiconductor temperature sensors are integrally formed on a silicon substrate. -It consists of a temperature sensor chip.

[0013]

The sheet-like flow rate / thermometer of the present invention is brought into close contact with the object to be measured, or is arranged along the desired shape at the position to be measured. A large number of flow rate / temperature sensor chips closely spaced with each other on a flexible sheet have a power supply connection part and a printed wiring part that are integrated in one place so that the sensor functions can be activated respectively. Electricity is individually supplied via. The output from each sensor is collected in the signal extraction unit equipped with the processing circuit.
From there, it is sent to a personal computer or the like and subjected to data processing or image processing of the flow rate (flow velocity) distribution and / or temperature distribution. In this way, even though it has a large number of flow rate / temperature sensor chips, flow and temperature disturbance due to wiring are not caused, so precise and accurate measurement can be performed and flow rate detection at each flow rate detection position. At the same time, since the temperature can be detected, accurate temperature correction for the output of the flow sensor can be easily performed.

[0014]

The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention. The sheet-like flow rate / thermometer 10 of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is configured as follows. That is, for example,
A large number of flow rate / temperature sensor chips 12 are attached via an adhesive to one side of a flexible sheet 11 made of polyimide having a printed wiring 13 formed on the surface or inside so as to be closely arranged with a narrow space between them. ing.

Each of the flow rate / temperature sensor chips 12 is formed by forming a pair of flow rate sensors and temperature sensors on a silicon substrate by using a semiconductor microfabrication technique, and particularly preferably both sensors are integrally formed. Both sensors are connected to the power supply connection unit 14 and the signal extraction unit 15 including a processing circuit via the printed wiring unit 13.

As the flow rate sensor and the temperature sensor, a hot wire type flow rate sensor and a semiconductor temperature sensor, which are small in size and consume little power, can easily obtain an electric signal output and are inexpensive, are most suitable. Further, if the heat ray used as the detecting portion of the flow rate sensor is made of a semiconductor such as polysilicon, a flow rate sensor of wide range measurement range and high speed response type can be obtained.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the flow rate / temperature sensor chips are mounted in an aligned arrangement, but it goes without saying that they can be mounted in various forms depending on the application. Further, the positions of the power supply connection unit 14 and the signal extraction unit 15 can be changed appropriately.

Next, the operation of the sheet-like flow rate / thermometer of the present invention will be described with reference to the use example shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 shows an application of the sheet-like flow rate / thermometer of the present invention to a wind tunnel test which is carried out at the time of designing an automobile body.

In order to test the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle body 20 that affect the running performance, fuel consumption performance, etc. of the automobile, as shown in FIG.
A thermometer 10 is attached. After the sheet-shaped flow rate / thermometer 10 is connected to the power source, air is flown in the direction of the white arrow so that the flow rate (velocity) at various places near the surface of the vehicle body can be finely measured. The flow rate (flow velocity) distribution in the vicinity of the surface of the vehicle body 20 can be easily known by inputting the data thus obtained into a processing device such as the personal computer 30 and performing data processing or image processing. If a dedicated processing machine in which a data processing device and a display device are integrated is used instead of the personal computer 30, the flow rate (flow velocity) distribution can be obtained more easily.

As is clear from the above description, the sheet-like flow rate / thermometer 10 of the present invention has a large number of sensors, but is small, lightweight and flexible. It can be arranged along the desired shape at the measurement location. A large number of flow rate / temperature sensor chips 12 closely arranged on the flexible sheet 11 with a small space therebetween are provided with a printed wiring section 13 and a power source integrated in one place so that the sensor functions can be operated respectively. Electricity is individually supplied via the connection portion 14. The output from each sensor is collected in a signal extraction unit 15 having a processing circuit, and is sent to the personal computer 30 or the like from there to be subjected to data processing or image processing of flow rate (flow velocity) distribution and / or temperature distribution.

As described above, the sheet-like flow rate / thermometer of the present invention has a large number of flow rate / temperature sensor chips, but does not cause flow and temperature disturbance due to wiring, so that precise and accurate measurement is possible. Since the temperature can be detected simultaneously with the flow rate detection at each flow rate detection position, accurate temperature correction for the output of the flow rate sensor can be easily performed.

The above description is merely illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Many more variations and modifications of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0025]

The effects of using the sheet-like flow rate / thermometer of the present invention are as follows. 1. Since it is flexible, it is possible to measure the temperature distribution on the curved surface and the flow rate (flow velocity) distribution and / or the temperature distribution in the vicinity of the surface. 2. Since the individual sensors are small and their wirings are embedded in the sheet, it is possible to close the sensors closely and arrange them closely so that precise measurements can be performed. Accurate measurements can be made without disturbing certain flows or temperatures. 3. By making the heat ray that is the sensor section (detection section) made of polysilicon, it is possible to obtain a flowmeter with a wide range of measurement range and high-speed response, and measure the fluctuation of the flow rate (velocity) distribution accurately and precisely. It is possible. 4. It is small and lightweight. 5. Since the temperature can be detected at the same time as the flow rate detection at each flow rate detection position, accurate temperature correction for the output of the flow rate sensor can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a usage example according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 10 sheet-like flow rate / thermometer 11 flexible sheet 12 flow rate / temperature sensor chip 13 printed wiring section 14 power supply connection section 15 signal extraction section 20 vehicle body 30 personal computer

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet-like flow rate / thermometer in which a plurality of flow rate sensors and temperature sensors formed on a silicon substrate by using a semiconductor fine processing technique are arranged on a flexible sheet having embedded wiring. 2. The sheet-shaped flow rate / thermometer according to claim 1, wherein the flexible sheet is a polyimide sheet. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate sensor has a detection unit including a semiconductor heating wire.
A sheet-like flow rate / thermometer according to any one of 1. 4. The sheet-shaped flow rate / thermometer according to claim 3, wherein the semiconductor heating wire is a heating wire made of polysilicon. 5. The flow rate sensor and the temperature sensor each include a flow rate / temperature sensor chip in which a pair of semiconductor flow rate sensors and semiconductor temperature sensors are integrally formed on a silicon substrate. And the sheet-like flow rate / thermometer according to claim 2.